Ali Bowes , Chris Brown , Terri Byers , David Cockayne , Ian Cooper, James Du , Andrea Geurin , E... more Ali Bowes , Chris Brown , Terri Byers , David Cockayne , Ian Cooper, James Du , Andrea Geurin , Emily Jane Hayday , John W. Hayton , Claire Jenkin , James Andrew Kenyon , Niamh Kitching , Seth Kirby , Paul Kitchin , Geoffery Z. Kohe , Themistocles Kokolakakis , Ho Keat Leng , Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen , Eric W. MacIntosh, Hazel Maxwell , Anthony May , Katie Misener, Jimmy O’Gorman , Daniel Parnell , Keith D. Parry , Qi Peng, Daniel Plumley , Martin J. Power , Girish Ramchandani , Mike Rayner , Nicolas Scelles , Tracy Taylor , Tom Webb af and Mathieu Winand ah
ABSTRACT The mental health of football referees at amateur and elite levels has received very lit... more ABSTRACT The mental health of football referees at amateur and elite levels has received very little research attention, with the majority of mental health research focused on players. Unfortunately, such a shallow research pool has resulted in a deficit of knowledge which prevents not only the understanding of mental health symptoms and disorders in this population but also the creation of evidence-based interventions. As such, the purpose of this commentary is twofold: 1) to outline the importance of why an epidemiological understanding of mental health symptoms and disorders amongst referees is necessary and desperately needed and 2) to discuss how such epidemiological research can be used to design, deliver, evaluate and disseminate evidence-based mental health interventions to football referees. We provide an overview of the behavioural epidemiology framework and how it may be used to guide and execute future research and intervention endeavours.
ABSTRACT Research into the career dynamics of high-performance level match officials across sport... more ABSTRACT Research into the career dynamics of high-performance level match officials across sports is scarce. The present study analyses the career dynamics of elite football referees from childhood to the elite level, creating a context of life design and a pattern for identifying individuals with potential talent. Twelve international and elite football referees participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews utilizing narrative inquiry. Participants were asked to recall all football refereeing–related experiences associated with their life stories from childhood to obtaining their FIFA Elite Referee (FER) position. Data analysis indicated that there were two common discourses (early and later) in an elite football referees’ career which helped to shape their job role with increased meaningfulness, providing invaluable insights for reaching the FER position. The interviewees experienced specific on- and off-field, reactions during their career (early and late) in order to prepare themselves to face challenging and conflict-related situations in football refereeing. Based on career stages, types of job crafting, and job characteristic levels, we developed the unique career dynamic identification profile of elite football referees. Accordingly, we argue that a talented individual needs to undertake individual training and career-based goal setting in their early career, whilst later in their career the elite referees should move towards collective training and game-based goal setting. The paper discusses the wider implications of the research findings, including their transferability to other societal groups populations, such as public sportspeople, talented individuals, national football federations, referee departments, and concludes by considering suggestions for future research. HIGHLIGHTS Explores elite football referees’ real-life stories through career dynamics perspective and narrative inquiry. Develops a unique career dynamics profile illustrating how potentially talented individuals can become elite football referees. Perception of job characteristics determines unique types of job crafting at early and later stages of career. Off-field experiences are linked to choosing and continuing careers, and job crafting behaviors of career-based goal setting and individual training in early careers. Later in career, both off- and on-field experiences help referees to undertake game-based goal setting and collective training to reach and remain at elite level. Graphical Abstract
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 2017
This article focuses on the response by 2056 football referees across all 51 County Football Asso... more This article focuses on the response by 2056 football referees across all 51 County Football Associations in England, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey to an online survey conducted from 30 September 2015 to 30 November 2015 regarding their experience of officiating since the implementation of a Respect programme in 2008 by the English Football Association. In assessing the impact of the programme, whilst 54 per cent of referees felt that it has been somewhat successful, there remains a need to implement stronger sanctions and show greater support when dealing with cases of misconduct. Some 60 per cent of referees still experience abuse every couple of games and 19 per cent have experienced some form of physical abuse. With 42 per cent of our sample officiating for less than five years, there is an urgent need for the impact and effectiveness of the programme to be re-evaluated.
Research into the mental health of female sport match officials is scarce, despite verbal and phy... more Research into the mental health of female sport match officials is scarce, despite verbal and physical abuse being commonplace. Twelve female match officials officiating male and female matches took part in semistructured interviews, investigating their experiences and understanding of their mental health. Deductive thematic analysis identified four overarching themes: male and female football environments; abuse, sexism, and homophobia in football; formal and informal support networks; and mental health knowledge and experience—accessing services. The results revealed toxic, abusive, male-dominated environments that included sexist and derogatory language, negatively affecting their mental health. The female match officials struggled to ascertain mechanisms for support and identified that the educational courses and local organizations did not provide mental health information or training, and match officials often experienced poor mental health during and after matches. Increased ...
Ali Bowes , Chris Brown , Terri Byers , David Cockayne , Ian Cooper, James Du , Andrea Geurin , E... more Ali Bowes , Chris Brown , Terri Byers , David Cockayne , Ian Cooper, James Du , Andrea Geurin , Emily Jane Hayday , John W. Hayton , Claire Jenkin , James Andrew Kenyon , Niamh Kitching , Seth Kirby , Paul Kitchin , Geoffery Z. Kohe , Themistocles Kokolakakis , Ho Keat Leng , Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen , Eric W. MacIntosh, Hazel Maxwell , Anthony May , Katie Misener, Jimmy O’Gorman , Daniel Parnell , Keith D. Parry , Qi Peng, Daniel Plumley , Martin J. Power , Girish Ramchandani , Mike Rayner , Nicolas Scelles , Tracy Taylor , Tom Webb af and Mathieu Winand ah
ABSTRACT The mental health of football referees at amateur and elite levels has received very lit... more ABSTRACT The mental health of football referees at amateur and elite levels has received very little research attention, with the majority of mental health research focused on players. Unfortunately, such a shallow research pool has resulted in a deficit of knowledge which prevents not only the understanding of mental health symptoms and disorders in this population but also the creation of evidence-based interventions. As such, the purpose of this commentary is twofold: 1) to outline the importance of why an epidemiological understanding of mental health symptoms and disorders amongst referees is necessary and desperately needed and 2) to discuss how such epidemiological research can be used to design, deliver, evaluate and disseminate evidence-based mental health interventions to football referees. We provide an overview of the behavioural epidemiology framework and how it may be used to guide and execute future research and intervention endeavours.
ABSTRACT Research into the career dynamics of high-performance level match officials across sport... more ABSTRACT Research into the career dynamics of high-performance level match officials across sports is scarce. The present study analyses the career dynamics of elite football referees from childhood to the elite level, creating a context of life design and a pattern for identifying individuals with potential talent. Twelve international and elite football referees participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews utilizing narrative inquiry. Participants were asked to recall all football refereeing–related experiences associated with their life stories from childhood to obtaining their FIFA Elite Referee (FER) position. Data analysis indicated that there were two common discourses (early and later) in an elite football referees’ career which helped to shape their job role with increased meaningfulness, providing invaluable insights for reaching the FER position. The interviewees experienced specific on- and off-field, reactions during their career (early and late) in order to prepare themselves to face challenging and conflict-related situations in football refereeing. Based on career stages, types of job crafting, and job characteristic levels, we developed the unique career dynamic identification profile of elite football referees. Accordingly, we argue that a talented individual needs to undertake individual training and career-based goal setting in their early career, whilst later in their career the elite referees should move towards collective training and game-based goal setting. The paper discusses the wider implications of the research findings, including their transferability to other societal groups populations, such as public sportspeople, talented individuals, national football federations, referee departments, and concludes by considering suggestions for future research. HIGHLIGHTS Explores elite football referees’ real-life stories through career dynamics perspective and narrative inquiry. Develops a unique career dynamics profile illustrating how potentially talented individuals can become elite football referees. Perception of job characteristics determines unique types of job crafting at early and later stages of career. Off-field experiences are linked to choosing and continuing careers, and job crafting behaviors of career-based goal setting and individual training in early careers. Later in career, both off- and on-field experiences help referees to undertake game-based goal setting and collective training to reach and remain at elite level. Graphical Abstract
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 2017
This article focuses on the response by 2056 football referees across all 51 County Football Asso... more This article focuses on the response by 2056 football referees across all 51 County Football Associations in England, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey to an online survey conducted from 30 September 2015 to 30 November 2015 regarding their experience of officiating since the implementation of a Respect programme in 2008 by the English Football Association. In assessing the impact of the programme, whilst 54 per cent of referees felt that it has been somewhat successful, there remains a need to implement stronger sanctions and show greater support when dealing with cases of misconduct. Some 60 per cent of referees still experience abuse every couple of games and 19 per cent have experienced some form of physical abuse. With 42 per cent of our sample officiating for less than five years, there is an urgent need for the impact and effectiveness of the programme to be re-evaluated.
Research into the mental health of female sport match officials is scarce, despite verbal and phy... more Research into the mental health of female sport match officials is scarce, despite verbal and physical abuse being commonplace. Twelve female match officials officiating male and female matches took part in semistructured interviews, investigating their experiences and understanding of their mental health. Deductive thematic analysis identified four overarching themes: male and female football environments; abuse, sexism, and homophobia in football; formal and informal support networks; and mental health knowledge and experience—accessing services. The results revealed toxic, abusive, male-dominated environments that included sexist and derogatory language, negatively affecting their mental health. The female match officials struggled to ascertain mechanisms for support and identified that the educational courses and local organizations did not provide mental health information or training, and match officials often experienced poor mental health during and after matches. Increased ...
This book explores issues related to the abuse of referees and match officials in sport. Drawing ... more This book explores issues related to the abuse of referees and match officials in sport. Drawing on original empirical research in football, rugby union, rugby league and cricket, it provides an insight into the complexities involved in the recruitment, retention and development processes of match officials from across the global sports industry.
Using an evidence-based approach, the book examines why abuse occurs, the operational environments in which match officials operate, and underlying issues and trends that cut across sports and therefore can be linked to wider societal trends. It challenges global sport policy and discusses the development of an inclusive, cohesive and facilitative environment for match officials, players, coaches and spectators to ensure the future provision of global sport.
Referees, Match Officials and Abuse is an invaluable resource for all students, scholars and national governing bodies of sport with an interest in match officials, sports governance, sport policy, sport management and the sociology of sport.
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Using an evidence-based approach, the book examines why abuse occurs, the operational environments in which match officials operate, and underlying issues and trends that cut across sports and therefore can be linked to wider societal trends. It challenges global sport policy and discusses the development of an inclusive, cohesive and facilitative environment for match officials, players, coaches and spectators to ensure the future provision of global sport.
Referees, Match Officials and Abuse is an invaluable resource for all students, scholars and national governing bodies of sport with an interest in match officials, sports governance, sport policy, sport management and the sociology of sport.